


The Wrath from Above

by Sallysmokeburn



Category: battle for dream island
Genre: Fanfic, Leafy, Other, Shit goes down, battle for dream island - Freeform, needle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:27:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21991186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sallysmokeburn/pseuds/Sallysmokeburn
Summary: A swirling storm in the sky brings harsh winds and rain, hail, and snow falling from the sky all at once. One side of the sky is dark and the other is light. The animals are acting strange. What could be causing this?That's a question that Leafy wants the answer to. And accompanied by her friend Needle, they go on a journey to find answers.(Reposting from my wattpad)
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Leafy woke up, yawning as she slid out of bed. She expected it to be just like any other day, where she woke up and did her daily routine.

But that wasn't at all what she got.

She rubbed her eyes and walked over to the window, like she always did when she woke up. It just made her really happy.

But as she stopped at the window, she saw something wasn't right. She rubbed her eyes, hoping she wasn't seeing what she was seeing. But as she opened them again, leaning up against the window seal, she realized this was a reality.

One side of the sky was dark, while the other light. There were a checkerboard of dark grey clouds and a small circle of clouds in the middle that rained down hail, rain and snow.

Looking down into the village, she saw that it was utter chaos outside. There was a crowd of people outside, but Leafy noticed that it wasn't all of them, and she guessed that some of them were seeking shelter inside.

The one person in particular she noticed wasn't outside in the crowd was Needle. She must be one of the ones inside seeking shelter. Leafy decided that she had to check on her- to make sure she was okay in this harsh storm.

She dashed over to her closet, digging through it until she dug out a pair of little brown boots that had definitely seen better days. Then, as she hastily tried to put the boots on, she went over to the dresser and opened a drawer, taking out a neatly folded up scarf and throwing it on.

She slammed open the door to her room, dashing down the hallway and nearly tripping multiple times in the process as she ran as fast as she could to the front door.

Leafy opened the front door hastily.. She hesitated, slowly walking over to the porch railing.

The storm looked even worse in real life, and the wind carried the shouts of multiple voices from the crowd gathered in the middle of the village. Leafy felt a little more panicked than she did before.

She took a deep breath, dashing down the porch steps that were slippery from the rain and almost made her fall yet again. She continued on towards Needle's house, determined to see her friend okay.

When it became clear that the crowd was in her way and would definitely be a problem, she pushed through the crowd, throwing many "sorrys" over her shoulder as she pushed her way through the crowd.

By the time she made it to Needle's house, her boots were completely covered in mud and she was extremely out of breath. Before she knocked on the door, she leaned up against the brick wall for a moment to catch her breath.

Finally, after she had taken a moment to catch her breath, she finally knocked on the door, hoping that Needle would be able to hear it over the storm.

Leafy waited anxiously, crossing her arms and tapping her foot as she waited for a moment for Needle to answer. After waiting for a while, she knocked again, a little louder this time, and Needle answered the door.

"Leafy! What are you doing in this storm? Come in." Needle exclaimed immediately after she answered the door, ushering her inside and shutting the door.

Leafy took off her boots beside the door, suddenly realizing how exhausted she was. "I just wanted to see if you were okay." 

Needle shook her head. "Well, now you know I am," Then she sat down on the couch, patting the spot beside her for Leafy to sit down. "But I don't think you're going to be able to leave."

"I know, I know." Leafy told Needle as she sat down beside her. 

"Then why risk it?" Needle asked, shifting in her seat to try and get comfortable. "I don't really think it was worth risking your life just to see if I was okay."

Leafy sighed. "I know. But I was worried, and-" 

Needle cut her off by holding her hand up. "It's okay. I'm fine," She turned around to look out the window. 

Leafy looked at the carpeted floor, thinking. Then she spoke up. "Someone should do something! Something has to have caused this, right?"

Needle looked at her in surprise. "Well. I guess so, but-"

Now it was Leafy's turn to cut her off. "We have to go see what's causing this, Needle!" She exclaimed, jumping up off of the couch. 

"Are you sure it's really worth risking our lives?" Needle asked, standing up beside her. She looked really worried.

Leafy looked over at her. "It's worth saving the town.

Needle sighed, clearly realizing that it would be impossible to change her friend's mind. "Fine, I'll tell you what. We pack anything essential for the journey tonight and then leave tomorrow," Needle put a hand on Leafy's shoulder. "How does that sound?"

Leafy looked at her with a huge smile. "Perfect. That's perfect."

Leafy and Needle ended up playing board games and puzzles all day to pass the time until dusk came. The howling wind outside didn't seem to be giving up soon. It was as if it wanted to blow down every house in the village.

Finally, after many hours of board games and puzzles, it was dusk and it was finally time to pack.

Needle stood up and stretched, folding up the game board and gently placing it into the box and looking up at Leafy who was crouched on the ground in front of the coffee table. "Okay. I think it's time to pack now. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Leafy sprang up upon hearing this. "Alright," She said, putting the game pieces into the box the game came in and putting the lid back on it. Then she grabbed the stack of board games they had played and picked them up. "Go get some backpacks or something while I put this up." Needle nodded, and they both went their separate ways.

Needle grabbed two backpacks- one for each of them along with some stuff they might need for the journey while Leafy put the board games away. 

When Leafy came back into the living room, Needle had the two backpacks set out on the table and was putting stuff into them.

"What all did you grab?" Leafy asked upon walking in and seeing all the stuff she had gotten.

"Essentials. Water, food, maps, all that stuff." Needle said, turning around to face Leafy and listing the stuff on her fingers.

Leafy walked around the couch to stand beside Needle, a smile on her face. "Great!! This is gonna be an interesting journey."

"You can say that again," Needle muttered as she put the last of their stuff into the backpacks. Then she stood up. "I think we should go to sleep now. We have to go early tomorrow."

Leafy nodded. "Right. Thanks for agreeing on this, by the way." She said as they both walked out of the living room. Needle chuckled under her breath.

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you do this on your own." Needle muttered, shaking her head in amusement.

They went down the hall, Needle leading Leafy into a little guest room that was really small, but was enough for Leafy. She didn't mind, it would only be for one night, anyways.

As Leafy pulled the covers over her, she wondered if they really would be able to do this. Would they die? What if they didn't find anything out?

Leafy sighed, shaking her head as if to clear the thoughts out of her head. We'll figure out the answers to that when we leave.


	2. Chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the journey begins.

"Leafy!" Needle's voice snapped Leafy out of her dreams, and she immediately shot up, looking around the room in alarm. After a moment, she remembered where she was and relaxed.

"Are we leaving...?" Leafy asked in a sleepy voice, throwing of the old, worn down baby blue quilt off of herself and hopping out of bed. She walked over to the window, looking outside. Yup, just as she feared. The storm was still raging on and causing misery and panic amongst the people of the town. Needle walked over and stood next to her, looking at the storm as well.

It took Needle a moment to respond, but eventually she turned to Leafy and nodded at her. "Yeah. Wake up and get your stuff together, were going to leave as soon as possible," Needle turned to leave. As she put her hand on the doorknob, she turned around to look back at Leafy, a hand on her side. "Meet me back in the living room when you're ready. We can eat, then leave."

"O-" Leafy started, but she stopped when Needle closed the door before she could even finish saying it. Sighing and shaking her head, she turned back to the window again, looking back outside at the storm. It seemed to have gotten a little worse than it was the day before, but today the sky was a little lighter than dark, and she could see tiny peaks of sunlight trying to fight its way out of the swirling clouds of the storm.

Something had to have been causing this, this wasn't natural. And it was her mission to find out what was causing this. She was set on finding out whatever had caused this to happen and try and fix it. But she couldn't help but feel doubt, which crept up on her like a snake stalking through tall grass, just out of sight. 

Leafy sighed, shaking her head as if to shake her anxieties away. Of course it didn't work, and they were still heavy on her shoulders. She tried her best to ignore it, turning away from the window.

Her scarf was still a little damp from running hasilty through the rain the morning before, and it was clinging to her. She sighed, taking it off, gently folding it up, and setting it on the nightstand.

She had decided that she could just ask Needle for another one. And with that, she made her way out of the room and into the hallway towards the living room.

When she got there, Needle was already there, stuffing something into their traveling backpack. She didn't notice that Leafy had come in.

"Hey, Needle, I have a question." Leafy called from the entrance of the room, and Needle looked up at her. 

"What is it?" Needle asked, sounding tired and a little annoyed.

"Well, I was wondering if I could borrow a scarf or something? Mine is damp." Needle looked up at her, and without saying a word, pushed past her and walked down the hall.

While she was gone, Leafy walked over to the door and put on her boots.

Moments later, Needle was back, and she was holding a neatly folded up dark red scarf. Needle walked over to where Leafy was standing and shoved it into her arms.

Leafy put the scarf on, and Needle finished up packing. She seemed determined for the mission ahead of them.

Needle looked over at Leafy, cutting into the silence of the room. "Are you ready?" She asked, putting the backpack on.

Leafy looked up from the carpeted floor. "I guess so..." she said.

"Good, come on." Needle mumbled, grabbing her by the arm and dragged her out of the house.

The wind outside was terrible, and even stronger than the day before, and the rain had picked up, coming down hard and strong onto the ground and roofs of the village.

Upon seeing the savagery of the storm, Leafy hesitated on the porch, but Needle was having none of it, she grabbed Leafy's wrist and dragged her down the porch steps that were slippery with rain and creaky with age.

The ground had even more mud than before, making a squishy noise with each step they took. Thankfully, no one was outside today as opposed to yesterday, which gave the village an eerie, abandoned feeling that sent a shiver down Leafy's back.

Maneuvering out of the town was pretty difficult, especially with all the stuff on the ground. 

Leafy looked around at the town and the effects that this terrible storm has brought. By the looks of it, it seemed to be getting worse with each day that passed. 

There were broken branches on the ground everywhere, and trees had fallen over everywhere, tables and chairs on the outside of cafes were toppled over. 

Needle seemed determined to go on the journey that Leafy has dragged her on, as she didn't hesitate or stop once while they made their way out of the town, dragging Leafy tightly by her wrist.

They made their way around the last of the debris on the ground and here they were, on the foot of the hills that surrounded the village on every side.

Needle let go of Leafy's wrist, and they kept going up the hill. By this point, they were soaking wet. Needle didn't really seem at all bothered by this, though.

Leafy lagged behind, trudging behind the oh-so-determined Needle. There was rain water and mud in her boots now. 

The grass was soaked as well, little puddles were scattered here and there, and despite the horrible feeling that came with her shoes being filled with mud and cold rainwater, she walked through each puddle that she encountered, at least it cheered her up a little bit.

Before she knew it, the both of them had reached the top of the hill. Leafy took a moment to look back at the village below. It looked horrible right now, even worse than it did from down there.

And no doubt that it was going to get worse when she was gone.

"Leafy? Do you see that?" Needle's voice cut into her thoughts, and she turned around to see what she was wanting her to see.

Needle was pointing towards the storm overheard, which only seemed to be above this valley and the one beside it, which held a small forest in it.

"Wow." Was all Leafy could really say. She watched as Needle pointed down into the forest in the accompanying valley.

"I think we should travel to the forest, rest a bit, and then continue on our way." Needle said, putting her hands on her side and turning to Leafy.

Leafy gave her a thumbs up and a little nod. "That sounds good," she said, shaking some of the water free from one boot, and then the other. "Let's go then."

But Needle had frozen up, looking up towards the sky. Leafy dared to follow her gaze and see what she was looking at. And she kind of wished she hadn't.

There was a huge bird flying directly towards them, talons outstretched. 

Leafy wasted no time, grabbing Needle's wrist and sprinting away down the hill towards the forest.

The bird gave chase, not giving up on trying to get to them. At this point, Leafy was desperate to get out of harm's way of the bird.

Down in the valley, she spotted a small river that was just down slope and halfway to the forest. She knew what she had to do.

She hated water, she always had, but if this was she had to do to complete her journey and not getting taken away by a bird, then she had to.

She picked up her pace as she neared the river, anticipation and fear pricking at her feet as she neared the river.

Needle seemed to have picked up on what she was about to do too, because she braced herself as the both of them plunged into the river.

Hitting the surface hurt, and in the process Leafy let go of Needle's wrist. But afterwards cold water drifted and swirled around her, bringing her down to the pebbly river bed below.

Leafy fought her way to the surface, kicking and splashing around and desperately trying to get to surface.

She gasped for air once at the surface, Needle already at the surface once she got there. Needle didn't look too happy.

"Our stuff is all soggy now." She said in a low, irrated voice. Leafy smiled sheepishly at her.

"...At least we escaped the bird?" Leafy pointed out. Needle didn't react or respond, looking up to see if the bird was still there.

Then, holding the same annoyed expression she had been holding ever since they had left Needle's house, she began paddling towards the pebbly river bed. Leafy paddled after her; well, it wasn't really paddling, more like flailing in the water.

Needle got to the river bank first, shaking the water off of herself and shaking the water-soaked backpack off as well. She put her hands on her side again, waiting for Leafy to join her.

Leafy was exhausted by the time she joined Needle on the bank.

"Come on, we're almost to the forest. We can rest there." Needle said. Before Leafy could respond, she began walking towards the forest.

Leafy took a moment to shake the water off of herself and sprinted to catch up with her friend.

The rain wasn't as bad as it was in the valley their village was in, but the hail was worse and a lot harsher than it was in their valley.

Leafy held her arms over her head to shield herself from the harsh hail that was falling from the swirling storm clouds rapidly.

Beside her, despite the water that dripped from it, Needle was holding the backpack over her head.

The walk to the forest was short, and soon enough, they were to the forest.

Before they could take another step, long vines grew and rose from the forest and wrapped around them, dragging them into the forest.


	3. Chapter 3

Leafy opened her eyes. She tried to move, but she couldn't. She looked down, and saw that vines were wrapped tightly around her legs.

There were also vines that tied her wrists together. Both the vines around her wrists and legs had thorns and leaves covering every inch of them. She sighed in frustration, knowing she would be stuck here a while. She took notice of the faint smell of decay that was being carried by the harsh winds.

She looked to her side and saw that Needle was pretty much in the same boat. She too was tied up. She was thrashing around and trying to break the vines.

"Hey, you!" A croaky voice called, and a moment later, a coin came crashing through the bushes. He was covered head to toe in all sorts of plants, and he was wearing an extremely torn up tail coat. He had freckles that were nowhere close to his body color. They were a dark brown color and also- Leafy noted- they were shaped like seeds.

He looked absolutely furious, and he crouched down slightly to brush himself off before he stood up and looked at them with narrowed eyes, his arms crossed.

"What are you two doing here? Don't you know not to enter this forest?" He asked, looming closer with bared teeth. Taking an absolutely wild guess, Leafy figured that he was the one who had trapped them.

"We're just passing through. Now if you c-" Before Leafy could finish her sentence, the vines around her legs and wrist tightened. Beside her, she could hear Needle cry out in pain.

"What, let you go? I'd like it if you could answer my question first." He picked up a stick and took a few more steps closer to Leafy until he was somewhat close to her. Then, leaning forward slightly, he poked her cheek with the stick.

"I told you, we're just passing through. Also, we haven't heard of this place because; we've never left our village." He let out a sudden bark of laughter and dropped the stick.

"So you're from that puny little village a little ways down the valley from here? You're hardly even a threat if you come from there!" He said through laughter, one hand covering his eyes as he continued laughing. He snapped his fingers, and the vines around their wrists and legs collapsed and shriveled up, sinking into the ground.

Needle went to stand beside Leafy. She was shaking and visibly pretty scared. Her bow was torn up and she was covered in tiny little scratches from the thorns. Looking down at herself, Leafy could say the same. And great stars above did it hurt.

"We didn't mean any harm in the first place." Needle's voice was edged with pain when she said this. The coin had stopped laughing at this point and uncovered his eyes when he heard her speak.

"You never know with travelers," he made his way towards them, stopping in front of them with his arms behind his back. He looked them up and down. Leafy noticed that his eyes were glossy looking and unusually pale. One eye was green and the other purple. "Let me guess, you've traveled here because of the irregular skies? Because of the out of control animals? Because to be fair, I have nothing to do with any of that." 

Needle opened her mouth to speak, but Leafy stepped in front of her before she could. "We didn't say you had anything to do with that. We don't even know who you are." 

"Well, let's change that. My name is Coiny." He said, taking a little bow. Then he stood back up, a little smile on his face.

"I'm Leafy, this is Needle. Can you let us pass now?" She asked, beginning to her a little annoyed with this guy. He shook his head, turning around.

"I'll have to accompany you through this forest," he glanced back at them before continuing, pointing into the distance. "You look tired. Do you want to stay the night at my cottage and then continue on in the morning?" He asked, looking back at them with a look of genuine concern.

Leafy looked at Needle, who nodded. This seemed to be the only option. He was offering shelter, after all. It was either this or sleep in the forest for the night.

"Okay. Take us to your cottage." Leafy said with a nod. Coiny's smile widened a bit, and he nodded back, beginning to walk towards the bushes he had entered through earlier, looking back at them to see if they were following.

As they traveled on behind him, the forest dimmed as the trees grew closer and closer, the sky disappearing under a canopy of leaves.

As they walked, the smell of decay grew stronger and stronger. The smell became so strong that it was nauseating. Coiny didn't really seem bothered by the smell though.

The undergrowth in the forest moved out of Coiny way as he walked, and moved back into place when Needle and Leafy tried to follow. It made it almost hard to keep up.

The bushes moved to allow Coiny through and into a clearing that smelled so strongly of the smell of decay, that Leafy had to cover her mouth to keep from vomiting as she crashed through the bushes with Needle right beside her.

Leafy wish she didn't see what she saw in the clearing. There were multiple corpses hanging from their arms/legs by vines from the long branches. They were swaying in the wind. 

Coiny had stopped, looking up at the corpses hanging from the trees, Leafy and Needle stopped behind him as he pointed up at one of the corpses.

"That could've been you, you know. You're lucky I let you live." He said as he stepped over a fallen branch.

"How many people have you done this to?" Leafy asked as she too stepped over the branch, speeding up a bit to walk alongside him. Needle continued to walk behind them.

Coiny turned to look at her. "Tons," he held out his hand and a little flower bloomed in it. "But really, I don't exactly have complete control over this forest. I let it do whatever it wants. But it knows that others aren't allowed here. So that wasn't exactly my doing. I heard screaming and went to investigate because I thought you guys were intruders or something." He then crushed the flower with his other hand.

"Like I said, we were just passing through." Leafy said as she edged around a corpse that had fallen from one of the trees. Coiny, meanwhile, barely batted an eye at it. 

"I know, I've heard you say that multiple times." Coiny sounded pretty amused when he said this, and Leafy just sighed.

"That's because I keep having to remind you. You're the one who keeps referring to me as an intruder or something." Leafy retorted.

Coiny snorted. "And who's the one who came into my forest uninvited?" He snapped back as a wall of branches, vines and undergrowth quickly moved aside to make way for him. 

Coiny ushered them into the entrance and as he stepped in, it closed.

On this side, there was a pathway that was lined on both sides with stones. There were lanterns here and there- some hanging from branches, some from little lamp posts craved carefully from wood, and others were sitting on little candle holders on the trunks of the trees.

The forest around the area was pitch black, creating an ominous, uneasy feeling to it. Leafy looked over her shoulder at Needle, exchanging an uneasy glance with her.

"Come on now," Coiny's voice cut into the silence of the forest and he beckoned then along. "We're almost there." 

Leafy and Needle begrudgingly followed him, staying close together and also close behind him as they made their way down the path.

The path twisted and turned a lot as they made their way deeper into the pitch Black Forest. 

Eventually, they made it to a little cottage that was squeezed in between two trees, and their twisted, gnarled branches came together to form a roof.

"Here we are!" Coiny exclaimed, throwing his arms out to either side of himself. He seemed pretty proud of this place.

Leafy walked over to stand by him. "How long have you been living here?" She asked quietly.

"I don't know, I've been here for quite a while, though." He began making his way up the pathway towards the cottage. The pathway was studded with sharp, pointy rocks that Coiny seemed to avoid with ease.

Leafy and Needle walked up the pathway with far less ease than him. They practically jumped up the path, whenever they avoided one rock, another popped up.

They finally made it to the cottage after clearing the path. Coiny was watching from the porch, holding the door open with an amused expression. 

Needle gave Leafy an annoyed look that read: "is this all really worth it?!" 

Leafy just shot her an annoyed look and walked up the porch steps and stopped in front of Coiny. They stared at each other, not saying anything for what seemed like forever.

The uncomfortable staring contest was cut off abruptly when Needle pushed past Leafy and went into the cottage. That's when they were snapped back to reality.

Coiny looked at Leafy with an eyebrow raised before turning and going inside. Leafy followed him, shutting the door behind her.

Inside the cottage, there were shelves carved into every single wall that held books, picture frames that depicted a Coiny way younger and by the looks of it, also a lot happier. There were also tiny bottles and crystals that glowed dimly in the lights of the lanterns scattered around the room.

In the middle of the room was a wooden table that had obviously seen better days. Parts of the table legs were chipped and had scratch and bite marks on them. They tabletop wasn't spared from this treatment and had suffered the same fate

"Have a seat," He told them, motioning to the table. Leafy and Needle pulled out some chairs and sat down, Coiny sitting down across from them. "You've got a long way to go, you know." He commented as they all settled down.

Needle let out an exasperated sigh. "We know." She said in a low, annoyed mumble. Coiny let out an amused chuckle at her tone.

"I know where you should be heading," he commented again, standing up and walking over to the stove on the far side of the room that held a tea kettle on it. 

Needle was about to respond, when Leafy piped up from beside her. "Where?" She asked, jumping out of her seat.

"You saw those distant mountains, right? That's where you should be heading. There's a cave in those mountains that contains crystals that control the weather. The ones for our valleys must've cracked or something," He said as he scooped up a little tea cup and poured some tea into the cup before turning back towards them.

"...but wasn't that just a legend?" Leafy asked as she slumped back into her chair. Coiny let out another amused chuckle, walking back over to the table and sitting down where he had been sitting earlier.

"No, not a legend. I've seen them with my own eyes." Leafy and Needle exchanged a glance and leaned a bit closer to each other.

"Should we trust him? He seems a little crazy." Needle told Leafy in a mumble. A snort from across the table from Coiny told them that he had heard that.

"I don't know," Leafy said, thinking for a moment. "He does seem to know what he's talking about. So...maybe?"

Needle sighed. "I guess you're right. Let's see where trusting him goes." They both turned back into him. He had changed position, his arms behind his back and his feet propped up on the table.

"Ah, you're finished with your little... conversation. Great!" He took his feet off the table and rested his arms on the table, clearing his throat. 

"Yeah... is there anything else you want to tell us?" Needle asked him warily. He let out a large bark of laughter, and flowers began blooming around his hand. Leafy watched in awe.

"I think you might need me for the journey. I could be an asset to your team, and the storm is horrible out there." He gestured up towards the ceiling as three small flowers bloomed from his palm. 

"I-" Needle started, but Leafy cut her off. 

"That would be great!" Leafy exclaimed, walking around the table towards him. She gently took his arm that he had raised towards the ceiling and gazed at it in awe as a few more flowers bloomed from his palm. "Are you in control of that?" 

Coiny shook his head, a smile making its way to his face. "Yes, and no, I can control it, but most of the time it happens with my emotions."

"Oh, wow," Leafy commented. Coiny opened his mouth to respond, but Needle cleared her throat, gaining their attention. 

"Enough of that. So Coiny, you're coming with us, right?" Needle asked, standing up and walking over to their side of the table.

"Yes, I am." He confirmed, nodding.

"Alright. Can you tell us where we're sleeping? We're exhausted." Needle asked, stretching a bit. Leafy was about to protest, but decided against it. 

Coiny's eyes lit up. "Oh, sure! Follow me." He said, standing up and pushing his chair in. With a swift glance back at them, he started walking over to a small door on the other side of the room next to the stove.

He opened the doorknob, letting Leafy and Needle go in first before following them and shutting the door behind him.

The room was small and cramped. There was a small bed made of wood. The covers on it were made of moss.

"Here we are. I'll let you two take my bed for the night and I'll figure out something for myself later," he turned to leave and as he put his hand on the doorknob, he turned toward them again. "Sleep well, I guess." He mumbled, before opening the door and slamming it shut behind him.

"Wow, looks like this is where we're sleeping." Leafy commented as Needle began climbing under the covers.

"Yeah. Goodnight." Needle mumbled, flipping onto her side to where her back was to Leafy. 

Leafy sighed, climbing into the bed beside her. "Goodnight..." she whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quest continues

Coiny had woken them up early the next morning, and Leafy briefly wondered if he always woke up this early, but quickly forgot once they packed up their stuff and got ready to leave.

He had offered them breakfast, but Needle had said no. It was abundantly clear that she really didn’t trust him. 

She had told Leafy earlier that it was because of his powers- the longer they stuck around him, the clearer it became that he didn’t really seem to have control over them. His powers seemed to have a mind of their own.

As of right now, they were traveling through the forest, avoiding vines and various plants. Coiny kept telling them what the names of the plants were.

“So…” Leafy began, clearing her throat and speeding up to walking beside Coiny. He looked over at her as she continued. “Do you ever leave the forest?” 

Coiny chuckled, shaking his head and shoving undergrowth aside to clear his path. “Nope. I’d rather isolate myself here,” then he paused, looking slightly upset. “But this is a special case.”

Leafy nodded, ducking under a vine. “Yeah. Life or death, huh?” 

It took Coiny a moment to respond because he was preoccupied by a bird on a branch overhead that was chirping loudly. Then he looked over at her. “Yeah. Life or death. Although this whole bad weather thing doesn’t really affect me all too badly. I just want to help you guys out. And then I can-“ he cut himself off, his eyes widening a bit. “-Nevermind.”

Leafy was a little confused, but didn’t question it. “I’m glad you’re helping us.” She said, Needle snorting behind her. She cast Needle a glance and then looked back at Coiny as he responded.

Coiny ignored Needle completely. “Me too.” He mumbled, sidestepping to avoid tripping over a root.

Coiny insisted on stopping a lot because, as he had explained it, he wasn’t used to walking for long periods of time. So they stopped to rest a lot, the time they stopped varying in time.

Needle seemed annoyed by this, and Leafy couldn’t blame her, she just wanted to get a move on and get out of this dank, seemingly never ending dark forest. The only good side to this she could find was that at least the thick canopy of leaves above their heads blocked the terrible, raging storm.

The sounds and smells of the forest weren’t much of a plus side, though, especially since the wind carried the smell of the rotting corpses they had left behind.

It was when the canopy began to thin out that they stopped again. Coiny sat down on the gnarled and twisted roots of a tree and stretched his legs out. “Not much farther from here, we’re almost near the edge of the forest. You’ll want to continue heading towards the mountains.”

Needle, who was pacing in circles and stirring up the leaves that littered the ground, looked up. “And then you’ll leave us alone?”

Coiny snorted, looking up at the canopy where little droplets of rain managed to make their way through the leaves. “Nope, I’m coming with you.”

Needle opened her mouth to respond, but Leafy cut her off. “Great. Thank you.”

Coiny gave her a nod and a small smile. “Sure thing.” 

Needle’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say anything else and went back to impatiently pacing around in circles.

They set off again, the canopy thinning out more and more as they went, allowing more rain access into the forest and soaking them with each step they took.

When they reached the edge of the forest, Leafy took a moment to examine the wide expanse of land ahead of them.

That moment quickly passed as she was snatched up by vines that wrapped tightly around her, just like when she had entered the forest. A yell from beside her told her that Needle had been snatched up by the vines as well.

She was dropped after a moment, and closed her eyes as the ground came zooming towards her, closer and closer.

The wind was knocked straight out of her as she hit the ground, and she laid there for a moment until she felt a hand on her back.

Opening one eye and looking up, she saw it was just Coiny, his eyes creased with worry. “Are you okay? Is there anything I can do for you?” He asked in a gentle voice.

Leafy groaned and sat up, putting a hand on her forehead, she looked around. “I think I’ll be okay.. where’s Needle?” 

Coiny blinked a couple times and looked around. “She landed over in the undergrowth just over there,” he pointed to a cluster of bushes not too far away. “I managed to get her a safe landing, I wasn’t fast enough for you.”

Leafy shakily stood up, Coiny standing up after her to support her if she fell. Before she could manage to stumble over to the cluster of bushes to check on Needle, she stumbled out of the bushes, and Leafy sighed in relief as she noticed that she was completely unharmed. But as Needle walked over to them, Leafy noticed she was limping.

“We should rest before we go any further.” She hissed, brushing herself off.

Coiny frowned at this. “But-“

Needle cut him off. “We’re resting.”

Coiny didn’t argue further. “Okay, okay, fine.” He said, shaking his head with a defeated sigh. 

They went over to the bushes where Needle had landed, which were very roomy underneath, forming a little den.

Coiny curled up into a ball at the edge of the den, not saying anything. Needle went to sit at the opposite side of the den. Leafy sighed, not attempting to talk to either of them, sitting in the middle of the den.

I hope this doesn’t affect our journey too badly, I want to get to mountains as soon as possible. Leafy thought to herself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something unfortunate happens.

Coiny, Needle and Leafy continued their journey up through the valley. Rain driven by the wind whipped into their eyes and they trudged through soaked grass and rolling hills.

It was weird not seeing any animals or wildlife out, but Leafy really couldn’t blame them. Who would want to be outside in this weather? Nobody, that’s who.

But that didn’t mean they weren’t trudging through unknown ground. Every step they took, every mile they walked, could lead them closer and closer to danger and quite possibly, even death.

Coiny had been lagging behind the Leafy and Needle the whole time. He had his arms wrapped around himself and he was shaking, the tattered and worn tailcoat he wore was soaked and looked like it was about to fall apart.

Leafy lagged behind a bit, stopping beside him. He seemed surprised, and was that happiness she saw in his eyes?

“Hey.” Leafy said in a low mutter. She slowed down slightly to match his footsteps.

“Hi,” he said, his gaze flitting between her and Leafy. He smiled softly, and in a teasing manner, added, “aren't ya gonna walk with Needle?”

Leafy rolled her eyes and nudged him. She had grown fond of him despite only having met him the day before, and despite the fact he had almost killed her twice. Needle wasn’t happy about that, but who could blame her?

“You seemed miserable, I thought so company might cheer you up.” They stared at each other awkwardly for a moment, and then, uncomfortable by the silence, Leafy added, “but if you-“ he didn’t let her finish the sentence.

“It’s okay. I’m glad you’re here. Thank you.” He said with a small dip of his head. Leafy smiled.

Needle spoke up in front of them before she could respond. “If you’re quite finished,” She paused, waiting for them to look over at her, and then continued. “We’ve reached a river.”

Tearing her gaze away from Coiny, Leafy saw she was right. There was a wide river in front of them, with swirling, churning black water that rushed downstream quickly. It was swollen, being filled up with rainwater from the excessive raining. The riverbank had been pushed up, the riverbank stretched over the muddy riverbank and up to the grass, lapping at it.

Leafy darted to Needle’s side on the slippery, muddy riverbank, nearly slipping in the process. Coiny joined her, crouching down near the water and examining it.

Leafy sighed and looked over at Needle. “The river water seems too fast flowing to cross.” She pointed out. She caught Coiny staring at her from where he was. She smiled at him and then quickly looked away.

Needle nodded, putting a hand on her chin. “Right. Which means we’ll have to find another way to cross this.” Leafy nodded her agreement, reaching over and grabbing Coiny’s tailcoat, pulling him to his feet. He made a low hissing noise.

“We could try and find something to act as a bridge.. like a tree or something.” Leafy suggested, shooting an apologetic look to Coiny.

Needle tapped her foot thoughtfully. “That could work,” she mumbled.

Coiny piped up from behind Leafy. “What if I could use my powers to make a bridge?”

Leafy frowned at him. “That’s a nice idea, but, your powers are kind of out of control, aren’t they? That would just put us at risk.”

Coiny frowned, sulking. “Okay, you’re right about that.”

“I say we do Leafy’s idea. Go and try and find a tree or something.” Needle said, pushing Coiny away from Leafy. He slid on the muddy riverbank a little bit, and then planted his feet down in the mud firmly, glaring daggers at Needle.

Leafy nodded, ignoring the fact Needle had pushed him. “Let’s go then.” 

Needle nodded, taking the lead as she walked downstream. Coiny and Leafy hasilty followed

***

They walked for a long time before they found anything. It was far past sunset and the moon was beginning to climb the cloudless night sky.

What they ended up finding was a rotting tree, close to the swollen river was. It’s bark soft and slick from the rain pounding onto it. It had no leaves, the branches exposed and bare; reaching up towards the raven black sky like a Skeleton's hand.

They all stopped, surrounding it. “This looks good.” Needle commented, gently pushing against the bark. It made a low croaking noise. When she heard it, she immediately stopped pushing.

Leafy nodded in satisfaction. “Yeah. It looks like it’ll be easy to get this over the water.” 

Coiny, meanwhile, stayed silent. Not putting in his input. Not like he was asked, anyways.

“Sounds good to me.” Leafy said. She turned to Coiny. “Help us get this tree, please. Standing there doing nothing isn’t going to help us cross this river.”

Coiny immediately nodded, situating himself between Needle and Leafy as all three of them pushed on the tree, trying to get it to snap.

It did so almost immediately. A loud cracking noise split the air and the tree toppled over. It reached across the river, it’s branches barely just making it onto the opposite bank. 

“Who’s gonna cross first?” Needle asked, stepping away from the tree’s now exposed roots and looked at the others.

Before anyone could say anything else, Coiny took a step forward. “I will.” He said. Needle and Leafy nodded, gesturing towards the tree.

Coiny used the tree roots to climb up their tree bridge, nearly slipping on the slick bark once on top. He looked back at the other two, and then began to slowly walk across the tree trunk with wobbly foot steps. Once he reached the other bank, he jumped down onto the soggy grass and laid down on his back.

Next, it was Needle’s turn. Like Coiny, she went across with slow, wobbly foot steps; the tree trunk creaking ominously under her. She made it to the other side and jumped down beside Coiny and sat down next to him.

Last but not least, It was Leafy’s turn. She hesitantly climbed up the tree roots in the same manner Coiny had, and as gently as she could, jumped up onto the slippery trunk. As carefully as she could, she made her way across, the ominous creaking noise from before returning.

And then the tree snapped under her weight, sending her plummeting into the gurgling river water below. Needle and Coiny both jolted up, their eyes wide upon realizing what had just happened.

Leafy’s head reappeared above the water. “I’ll try and meet you guys downstream!” She managed to call out before she was thrown underwater again.

“Leafy!” Coiny called, almost jumping into the river. Needle stopped him by grabbing his tailcoat and pushing him back.

“We’ll have to catch up with her. She wants to meet us downstream, so that’s where we’ll go.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coiny faces his past.

He was surrounded in inky black darkness.

Fear pulsed through him. He tried to walk only to find he couldn't. His feet felt like they were glued to the floor.

He panted heavily, making a few attempts to try and walk which ended up unsuccessful.

He stopped struggling. It was a waste of time. He was clearly stuck.

He looked around. Complete darkness except for a small speck of light which was far away from where he stood, stuck.

Your past is going to catch up to you. 

Coiny's blood ran cold and he whipped his head around wildly, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. It was familiar, a voice he hadn't heard in years.

What will they think when they figure it out?

Another familiar voice. Fear pulsed through him. It came from a different direction. He looked in that direction. There was no one there. 

Surely those two have heard the story.

"No. Not the story." Coiny said into the darkness. His voice echoed, full of desperation and fear. He began shaking. They couldn't know. They can't. Needle already doesn't like him.

Yes, the story. Aren't you going to tell them? The first voice said tauntingly. 

"I was planning to.. but not now- I have to help them first." Coiny responded to the voice. It laughed tauntingly, and the second one joined in. 

Coiny felt tears well up in his eyes. He hadn't felt this scared in years. He thought he could escape. He thought he could start new. He was wrong.

You'll never escape

Your past will always follow you

There's a reason you're an outcast.

Coiny covered his face, tears streaming down his cheeks. He couldn't take this anymore. He couldn't move. He couldn't drown them out- he couldn't-

"Coiny." A new voice said. He felt a sharp pain in his side. 

"Coiny!" The voice said a little louder. This time the pain was sharper, and he winced.

"COINY!" The voice said a third time, this time in a yell. The pain in his side was so excruciatingly painful it made him cry more.

The new voice had drowned out the other two, to the point they sounded distant. Coiny risked opening his eyes- and was greeted by a white flash of light.

Suddenly he was back under the tree he and Needle had fallen asleep under. It wasn't very dry, but it was the best they could do. Needle was standing above him, looking confused and surprisingly, a little worried.

"Finally. You're awake." She said in a low voice. She crouched down beside him as he sat up a bit, rubbing his head.

"What happened?" He asked in a low mumble. He felt horrible. Everything hurt, his side especially. He curled up into a ball, wrapping his arms around himself. 

"You started screaming and crying in your sleep. It took me forever to wake you." Needle said, sitting down beside him. "Look, I've never particularly liked you, but...are you okay?"

That wasn't exactly a sentence Coiny had expected to hear from her. He was surprised, and it took him a moment to respond. "I think... i think I'm okay." He said after a long, awkward silence.

Needle raised an eyebrow, looking him up and down. She didn't exactly seem to really believe him. She sighed. "Alright, well. I think we'd better get going soon." She stood up, holding out a hand to help him up. Coiny hesitantly took it, allowing her to pull him to his feet.

"We'll eat, and then we can leave. How does that sound?" She asked, turning to Coiny. He nodded, still frightened from his dream. 

Needle nodded back to him, reaching for her backpack and pulling out some snacks. She offered some to Coiny. He was tempted. They looked really good. But he ended up declining. 

She frowned at him when he did so, but didn't say anything and began eating. Coiny sat there, regretting the fact he had declined a bit, but he didn't speak up. He just watched her eat, realizing how hungry he was. 

Eventually Needle stood up, grabbing the backpack and slinging it around her shoulder. "C'mon. We've got to keep searching for Leafy." She said quietly to Coiny. Coiny stood up eagerly when she said this.

And so they set off again, following the river making small talk. It didn't take very long for them to be soaked to the bone and shivering.

"Ugh. I hope we find her soon. The sooner we find her, the sooner we can stop this horrible weather." Coiny mumbled, shaking water from himself only to be soaked again in seconds.

"Me too. I just hope she's okay. That river seemed unforgiving." Needle said, looking down at the rain soaked ground. 

Coiny looked at her. He never thought he would feel sympathy for her. She seemed like someone he could never get close to. "I hope she's okay too."

Needle met his gaze, narrowing her eyes slightly.  
"Me too. Listen, you're my only companion left on this journey- don't get lost too. I've already lost my best friend, and I, Uh, don't want you to get lost too. Then I'd have to look for both of you."

Coiny hesitated, a little taken aback. He stopped walking, and stared at her. "I'll try not to." He mumbled awkwardly.

Needle stopped beside him. "Good. Let's keep going. I want to find her." She pushed him to keep walking, then followed behind him.

Coiny got more and more nervous as they kept walking. Needle had gone silent since their little conversation- walking ahead of him and looking down at the ground. 

Like Needle, he wished they would find Leafy soon. The rain was starting to pick up, pounding down on them painfully. 

Coiny looked up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the rain- the clouds above were dark and swirling, churning out the rain and snow from above. He could see that the hills beyond were covered in blankets of snow.

He sighed. They would have to go through that. But not right now, they had to keep following the river.

—————————————————————-

It was dawn. They had been walking all night. 

"Can't we stop?" Coiny asked, rubbing one of his eyes. They hadn't stopped, Needle had insisted they kept going. His whole body was aching and he was lagging behind her.

"No." Needle said immediately, not looking back. Coiny sighed. He should've known she would answer like that.

He caught up to her, and this time she turned a bit, a frown on her face.

"We need to stop. We're both tired." he insisted, reaching an arm out.

"You May be, but I'm not." She hissed, slapping his arm away. Coiny stopped in his tracks, looking down at the rain-soaked ground.

"I can tell you're tired. C'mon, let's just stop and rest for a while." He said in a voice no louder than a whisper. This time Needle whipped around.

"I've already told you. I'm not tired. Besides, we're not stopping until we've found Leafy." She retorted, her voice cold and her eyes narrowed. Coiny took a step back.

"But we've got to rest," Coiny began, cutting Needle off as she opened her mouth to respond. "We've been walking for the entire night! And we barely stopped yesterday- not even to eat. Come on-" 

Needle took a few steps forward. "I knew you shouldn't have come with us. All you're doing is holding me back from finding Leafy." The words hit Coiny like a sack of bricks, and he took a few more steps back, hugging himself.

"I just wanted the company, okay?! Leafy was nothing but nice to me- I thought we were becoming friends! You two were the first contact I had with other people in over 10 years!" Coiny exclaimed, stumbling back into a puddle as Needle loomed closer.

"She might've liked you," Needle began coldly. "But I don't. I knew you were nothing but trouble since the beginning."

Tears began to well in Coiny's eyes. "I know you don't like me, but if we could just-"

"I'm not continuing this journey with you. I'll tell Leafy you turned back- went back to your little cottage in that forest." Needle turned and began to walk away, not even looking back.

Tears streamed down his cheeks. He tried to stand up, to try and catch up to her, but his efforts were in vain. He fell to his knees, giving up.

His vision was becoming blurry. He could barely see anything.

His chest heaved.

He heard Needle scream. He couldn't see her, all he saw was a blurry blob hunched over on the ground.

He crashed to the ground on his side.

Every muscle in his body screamed at him to try and get up again. But the pain was unbearable. Everything hurt.

Everything went black.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coiny and Needle wake up in a cave. Coiny remembers things from his past.

When he woke up, his head was pounding. 

He was on a damp stone floor. He was covered in flowers and vines from head to toe, in which he could only assume his emotions had gotten the best of him. He could also hear the sound of pounding rain outside.

“Finally, you’re awake.” A voice from a little ways away mumbled.

He sat up slowly, grimacing at the pain of his pounding headache. He could see that, a little ways away, Needle was sitting by a fire. Her clothes were torn past repair and she had water dripping down her face. He could see that she was shivering, and she had an unreadable expression on her face.

“What... happened?” Coiny said weakly, scooting over to the fire and curling up next to it. His whole body ached. He felt terrible.

“We got into an arguement. You attacked me with your powers,” she paused to take a deep breath, glancing outside at the pouring rain. Her expression hardened when she looked back at him. “I knew your powers were nothing but trouble.”

“Not the time, Needle. I’m sorry for attacking you, but you know how unstable my power are at times.” He said in a low, grumbly voice, sitting up and wrapping his arms around his body.

“Yes,” She said with a nod, leaned forward a bit. She pointed at the scratches all over her face. “But look what you did to me. I thought this journey was going to be saving the valley, not saving you. Leafy has far too much sympathy for you.”

Coiny winced. That comment hit. Hard. Leafy was the first friend he had since he had been exiled from his village so long ago. “I’m trying my best to keep my powers under control.” Was all he could say- all he knew what to say. He chose to ignore the comment about Leafy. She was the first person to care about him in years. He couldn’t mess that up.

Needle’s eyes fixed on him with a cold expression. “Well maybe your best isn’t good enough.” She spat. “We have nothing. Leafy had the backpack and she got washed away. We’ll have to fend for ourselves until we can find her.” She turned away from him, closing her eyes.

“But what if...what if we can’t find her..?” Coiny asked in a low voice. He felt so vulnerable. He felt as if there was a huge weight upon his shoulders. Needle whipped her head around with a suddenly angry expression. Coiny snapped just mouth shut, regretting that immediately.

“We will find her.” She snapped, pushing a hand against his chest and nearly knocking him over.

“Or else..?” Coiny asked hesitantly, knowing he was walking on eggshells here.

“Or else I’m going back home and forgetting all this happened.” Needle retorted, turning back towards the fire and wrapping her arms around herself. Coiny blinked in surprise, scooting a little closer towards her- not too much though, out of fear of how she would react. 

“But you can’t- what about the valley?” He asked, hesitantly laying a hand on her shoulder. Was this a comforting gesture? He hoped it was, or otherwise he was probably on deaths row.

Needle turned back towards him, this time her expression was unreadable. She gently shoved his hand off her shoulder. “Why can’t you? You know where the so called ‘weather crystals’ are.”

Coiny shrunk back, pulling his hand back towards himself. “Well I do, but-“

Needle cut him off. “But nothing,” she snorted. “You know where they are. You should be able to go there yourself.” 

“True. I can, however I think I would rather go with others. This is a long and perilous journey, it would be nice to have company along the way.”

Needle’s expression softened slightly. “It is a long journey, isn’t it?” She then sighed in defeat, turning towards him. “Fine. I won’t go back to the village.”

“Yes!” Coiny exclaimed, hugging her. “Thank you, thank you, thank you-“ 

Needle gently pushed him away. “You’re welcome,” she mumbled. “But just for future reference, I don’t do hugs.”

“Oh.” Coiny replied sheepishly, scooting a way from her a bit. “Sorry.”

Needle smiled at him. “It’s fine.” Then she looked outside, and her eyes narrowed. “We should sleep. It’s getting dark outside.” Coiny could tell she wanted to say more, and waited a moment to see if she would. 

Instead, she laid down by the fire, curled up and closed her eyes. Coiny hesitantly laid down beside her, and shut his eyes.

The last thing he heard as he drifted to sleep was the crackling of the fire. 

—————————————————————

Coiny was standing outside in a field. His mother stood before him, a desperate look on her face.

“You have to stop this,” she pleaded with him. She was holding his little brother, who wasn’t more than a couple of months old. “The people are furious. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“I don’t care. It’s not like I can control it.” A teenage Coiny snapped. When he said this, a vine began to carefully wrap itself around one of his legs. 

“Well you should care!” She exclaimed, tears beginning to flow down her cheeks. “This is beginning to get out of control. Your powers! They’re scaring the village.”

“I’m trying my best, mom, but it’s difficult. You know that.” He retorted. He was beginning to get frustrated. He already knew the village hated him and his powers. And in some morbid way, he liked the way people feared him. It made him feel powerful and in control. 

“Well try harder!” She snapped. She was tapping her foot now. “You’ve killed people due to your powers! Isn’t that enough to make your realize you need to stop this behavior?”

“No.” Coiny said in a low, quiet voice. He could feel his anger rising. He knew it was going to happen. 

She looked surprised. “No…?” She asked in a soft voice. She looked scared now, and took a step back, hugging his brother close to her chest and keeping her eyes on him. 

“No. I like the way the village fear me. It makes me feel powerful, in control. I might have killed people, but they were just in my way to power.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re not the boy I raised.” She practically whispered. “The Coiny I raised would never kill anyone!” She yelled, before sprinting off into the fields.

The next day Coiny was awoken. He had slept in the fields that night as his mother was scared to allow him to sleep in the house, what with his little brother and sister.

He was picked up and forcibly dragged to the middle of the village, where he saw the entire village gathered. There was a lot of screaming. They were furious with him. Furious about what he had done. But he didn’t care.

They wanted to kill him. They wanted to make sure he never killed anyone again. 

It was finally decided that he would be exiled. That he would be spent far away. He was told to never return. So, he didnt.

He fled over the hills of the valley, until he found a small forest situated at the bottom. He fled to the shelter of the forest, which he quickly found of that he could control.

He spent so many years alone, rotting in the safety of his secluded cottage that he had built in the middle of the forest. 

Anyone who came into the forest was seen as a threat. Anyone who came into the forest could be killed instantly by the plants and vines that he controlled. He finally felt like he was in control. 

And it felt amazing. 

But he felt lonely. He wanted a friend, but all his friends stopped talking to him once they found out what he had done. He still remembers their horrified faces, and he was beginning to feel bad.

And then Needle and Leafy arrived. They were trying to stop the storm. Coiny admired their bravery.

He felt instantly attached to Leafy. She was unlike anyone he had ever met. She wasn’t afraid of him. She didn’t fear him or his magic, in fact, she seemed fascinated by it. But he couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be until she did.

But that moment never came. She was the first person in years who was friendly towards him. She was the first person in years who didn’t fear his magic. 

But then she was washed away by a swollen river. 

Coiny felt a piece of himself break. He felt horrified. He was helpless to save her and all he could do was watched her be washed away.

And he was left with Leafy’s friend, Needle, who clearly resented him. She didn’t like his magic and thought he was nothing but trouble. 

They were forced to look for Leafy together. And that ended in both of them having an argument and, yet again, Coiny’s powers getting the best of him.

He’d have to remember the apologize to Needle later. He had seen the injuries he had given her. 

He knew if Needle found out of all he had done, she would probably resent him even more, if that was possible. She would probably leave him somewhere and go on the journey without him.

So he had to be sure she didn’t find out about it. 

He just wished they would find Leafy soon. He missed her a lot. She actually cared about him and he had let her be swept away. He felt as if it were his fault.

And to be fair, it probably was.

All of a sudden, Coiny shaken awake. He was back on the cold, hard cave floor. 

“Coiny.” Needle said softly. She was sitting above him. “C’mon, get up.”

“What is it..?” Coiny asked groggily as he sat up. He noticed that he was covered in even more plants than he already was.

“It’s getting light out.” Coiny looked to the cave entrance and realized she was right- it was getting light outside. How long had he been asleep? 

“Are we going to get going?” Coiny asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Needle shook her head.

“Yes.” Needle said, standing up. “I have a good feeling about today.”

Coiny stood up after her, stretching. “Well, okay then, let’s get going.”

Needle put out the fire and they set off into the pouring rain.


	8. Chapter 8

Coiny and Needle had been walking for days. Needle wasn’t sure how many, she had lost track after a while, but all she knew was that her whole body was aching and that they had been walking forever.

They had continued to follow the river, and Needle had decided to keep a close eye on Coiny. She still didn’t trust him or his powers, especially after he had nearly killed her with them after their last argument.

Coiny didn’t seem to be aware that she had been keeping a close eye on him, though. He was mainly just doing his own thing. He had been picking flowers and tucking under his arm, picking up the pebbles that were littered all over the riverbank and throwing them into the river; during so he had nearly hit her at least once or twice.

She also noticed he seemed exhausted. He had been asking to stop a whole lot less, and he was trudging behind her tiredly. Needle almost felt bad, but she didn’t say anything. She wasn’t going to let him slow her down, especially when she felt she was getting closer and closer to finding Leafy. 

The more they walked, the closer Needle felt to finding Leafy. Ever since Leafy had been washed away she felt pretty alone. Sure, Coiny was with her, but he didn’t provide that good of company. He was loud and got distracted super easily. And god, was he whiny. He complained constantly. It felt like Needle was being accompanied by a child. How could Leafy stand this guy?

But there was a thought that lingered at the back of her head, one that kept her up at night, one that really bothered her.

What if Leafy had drowned? 

Needle really hoped that it wasn’t that case. She couldn’t have drowned, Leafy couldn’t be dead. If Leafy were dead, Needle would never forgive herself. Leafy was one of her closest friends, she couldn’t have lost her just like that.

So Needle chose to ignore those thoughts. Or at least, she tried to. It was very hard to do, though.

She chose to ignore the lingering feeling of anxiety that told her Leafy might be dead. She couldn’t be, she just couldn’t be. Not after all they’d been through together.

They had grown up together, they faced every challenge their lives had thrown at them together, they faced hardships together. They had gone on this journey together for Pete’s sake! 

And now Needle was stuck with Mr. out of control magic, and no Leafy. 

And she was getting sick of him.

After their argument, she had woken up to find him passed out, face down in a growing puddle. She had thought about ditching him, just leaving him there, but then she remembered Leafy.

Leafy would be devastated if Needle had ditched him, and Needle knew how much she liked Coiny. 

So, she hesitantly grabbed him and dragged him to a nearby cave she had spotted soon after waking up. It took him almost a whole day for him to wake up. And the whole time he was talking in his sleep, just like he had done every time he had fallen asleep on this journey.

So, she spent the whole day in that blasted cave listening to nothing but the pounding rain outside and Coiny’s mumbling in his sleep.

While he was sleeping, Needle noticed that there were vines and flowers growing more and more all over his body. If she remembered correctly, that happened whenever he got upset.

So not only was he talking in his sleep, he was upset. And she could only assume he was upset due to their argument. Which was fair, she was still upset too.

But he eventually woke up, and Needle found herself somewhat glad that he did. She had begun to worry.

He remembered nothing of their argument when he woke up, and Needle had to remind him.

And that just made him more upset.

After they slept, Needle and Coiny distinguished the fire and continued onward.

The rain seemed to have gotten worse for the one day they were in that cave. It was worse than ever now, and Coiny warned her that they had better find Leafy and get to the mountains fast.

So they picked up the pace. They went days without stopping, not to eat, get water, or sleep. They were both exhausted, but they pressed onward. 

And the rain got worse and worse. Coiny had said something along the lines of “the crystal must be cracking more and more.” Needle wasn’t sure exactly what he said, everything that had been happening was beginning to become a blur.

And honestly? Paying attention to anything he said was hard. It was pretty difficult for her to understand him sometimes, but she tried. Really, she did.

Sometimes during their journey Needle would just let him talk, even if she didn’t quite understand what he was talking about. 

It was better than walking in silence. So, so much better. She would trudge onward and Coiny would walk alongside her, or sometimes behind or in front of her, and just. Talk. Talk about whatever came to his mind. 

He would point things out. Like the way the trees rustled in the wind. Or when they saw a tree branch fall. Or when there was a rock, or a flower, or a blade of grass he found remotely interesting.

They eventually stumbled upon a tree, in the far distance, stripped of its leaves and its branches swaying harshly in the wind.

And there seemed to be someone under that tree. They were sleeping, and as they approached it became somewhat clearer to Needle that this certain someone wasn’t just a stranger. 

They got closer. 

Beside her, she heard Coiny gasp. She hardly withdrew her gasp herself.

She took a step closer to the tree, Coiny following suit. 

The stranger under the tree turned her head.

“It can’t be..”

But it was.

-

Leafy was tired and cold. She had washed up on a riverbank far downstream.

Her entire body ached. She hadn’t expected she was going to survive. She thought she was going to take her final breath that day.

But she didn’t.

She sat up. She was soaking wet all the way to her bones. Which, with the storms, wasn't anything new. But god was she cold.

She reached back to take something out of her backpack, hopefully some new clothes or something, only to remember it had been washed away and she no longer had it.

Great. Just great. She thought, standing up and wrapping her arms around herself.

She had washed up a muddy riverbank. She surveyed her surroundings. The fields surrounding this river were covered in taller grass, and in the distance she could see a small village. Turning the other way, she could see the mountains- the ones she was supposed to be heading towards.

She knew Coiny and Needle would probably be looking for her. Which is why she had to find them. 

But first, she needed supplies. This was a hard and perilous journey. 

She turned her head back towards the direction of the village. She would go there first, then she would continue onward with following the river.

So she headed in the direction of the village.

Like her village had been, this one was deserted for the most part. There were a few residents wandering about the streets, and she realized how worn out she looked. But she pressed onwards, exploring the village.

Most of the buildings in the village were pretty beaten down, and had definitely seen better days. She wondered if it had been like that before or if the storms had weathered the buildings down. 

The wooden structure of the buildings were cracked in multiple places and they looked like they were going to collapse at any moment. 

Leafy looked around, trudging through the muddy streets of the worn down village, hoping to find a store.

And she eventually did.

The store definitely wasn’t anything fancy, and it most definitely wasn’t something new. It was very old fashioned and worn down. The cashier at the front of the store was a middle aged man who looked bored.

Even so, the store still had some valuable things. Like clothes, tools, and most importantly, food. 

She wandered around the store, the floorboards creaking underneath her with each step as she looked around at what each aisle in the store had to offer.

The store had many aisles, but each shelf seemed to be nearly empty though, and she guessed it was due to the storms. But she scoured for what she could find, anything that might be valuable to her.

After wandering around the store for a while, she grabbed a bag, some food, and a few extra pairs of clothes. 

As she got closer to the checkout counter, she realized something.

She couldn’t exactly pay. She didn’t have money on her.

So, she did the first thing that came to her mind.

She ran out with the items as fast as she could.

She could hear the cashier shout something at her from behind her, and a few heads turned when she shot out of the store. She ran as fast as her legs could take her and didn’t stop until she was out of the village.

And she didn’t stop until she was beside the river again.

She was panting heavily. Looking back, she saw she hadn’t been followed. She guessed that the cashier had given up. 

She shoved everything into the backpack. One of the extra pairs of clothes and some of the food. 

Next, she very quickly changed into one of the extra pair of clothes; a faded pink t-shirt which seemed to have a faded logo on the back, and some black leggings. 

Admittedly, they were a little big on her but they would have to do for now. She shoved the old, torn up pair she had been wearing into the backpack. 

Lastly, she began eating the food she hadn’t shoved into the bag. She hadn’t eaten in what she guessed was a couple of days.

She ate slowly, savoring every single bite the meal had to offer. It wasn’t a big meal, more than a snack than anything, but it was a meal.

She finished up, shoving the trash into her backpack and pulling it on. 

She had a long way ahead of her if she wanted to get back to her friends.

She put the backpack over her head for at least some protection from the rain, and began to follow the river. 

the riverbank eventually went from sticky brown mud to hard pebbles that hurt her feet as she walked. But she kept going.

So she walked.

And walked.

And walked. Her legs ached. Her stomach growled. Her throat was dry. She hadn’t stopped at all. Not to eat, not to drink. Not for a thing.

She had been walking for three days straight. 

She was getting closer to the mountains with each step she took. She had been following the river the whole time, trudging along the riverbank.

She came to a complete stop, suddenly realizing just how tired she was. 

She needed to sleep. She needed to eat.

She quickly surveyed her surroundings to see if there was anywhere she could stop.

She didn’t want to stop out in the open, she had nearly gotten taken away by a bird earlier on in the journey. She didn’t want that to happen to her for real this time.

Farther down the riverbank there was a tree. It didn’t provide the best shelter, that was for sure. It was stripped bare of its leaves and she would probably have to sleep soaking wet.

But at this point, she didn’t care anymore. She wanted to rest. 

She began to make her way towards the tree. Her movements were slow and she was shaking.  
Her whole body hurt, it hurt to move, and every movement was met with agonizing pain.

But she was determined. The sooner she ate and got rest, the soon she was able to find Coiny and Needle again.

She hoped they were doing okay, wherever they were. Hopefully they were doing a lot better than she was. 

She made it to the tree and sat down with her back against the trunk, the bark slick and wet as she sat her backpack down next to her, unzipping it and digging around until she found herself something to eat.

This time, she ate fast, which would probably give her a stomach ache somewhere down the road, but she wasn’t concerned about that right now. She was starving. 

She crumbled up the wrapper once she was finished, shoving it into her backpack and zipping it back up.

She laid down a propped her backpack up so it could act as some sort of pillow. She rested her head on it and closed her eyes.

But unfortunately for her, sleep wasn’t coming as soon as she had hoped.

For one, with the absence of the leaves on the branches above her, she was getting soaked by the rain.

For two, the rain was so loud. It was pounding down onto the already soaked grass so heavily that it was noisy.

After what seemed like her sitting there, soaking wet and attempting to sleep, she drifted off to sleep.

But it felt like it was for only a second.

She woke up to yelling, and for a second she was afraid that cashier had found her again. 

Then she realized she recognized these voices.

She looked up. Through the pouring rain she could she them.

It was Coiny and Needle! They had found her.

“Leafy!” Coiny exclaimed, running over at feel speed and hugging her. Needle following more slowly, joining the hug.

“You guys found me!” Leafy said as the hug broke up; Coiny stood very close to her, whole Needle had stepped back. Leafy slipped on her backpack.

“Yeah, we did. Also, where’s the backpack from? That’s a completely different one from the one you had when you got washed away.” Needle asked, pointing at the backpack. Coiny tilted his head, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“Oh! The backpack. Well the original one got lost when I fell into the river, so I got this one from a village I stumbled into.” Leafy explained with a nod of her head.

Coiny stepped even closer to look at the backpack. “You didn’t have any money on you though, whatever village you got it from had to have charged you for it.”

Leafy shook her head sheepishly. “Uh no actually..” she searched for words. “I uh, I actually stole it, along with some clothes and some food.” 

Coiny threw his head back and laughed. Needle looked pretty amused as well. “Well Leafy, I didn’t think you had it in you.” He said in a teasing voice.

“I was desperate, okay? I was starving and I needed new clothes.” Leafy said, rolling her eyes at his teasing tone.

“Well, we’re just glad you’re safe.” Needle butted in, and Coiny nodded in agreement, a smile making its way onto his face.

“I think we should stop here. Coiny and I have been walking for forever, and we’re exhausted. We should rest up and then continue forward to the mountains.”

Coiny nodded, then added, “We’re almost there, not too much longer until we reach them.”

“How long do you think it’ll be until we get there?” Leafy asked him, watching Needle settle down beside the tree.

“A day or two at most, maybe longer.” Coiny said, taking a step towards the tree and laying down beside it. 

He stopped to look up at her when he noticed she wasn’t settling down with them. “Aren’t you going to lay down?” He asked her, Needle looking up at her as well with a confused look on her face.

“Uh, no actually.” Leafy said, and as he began to stand up, she added. “I’m just going to go take a walk, ya know, clear my head. It’s been an interesting last few days and I want to take some time to take it all in.”

Coiny sat back down, but he still looked confused. “Well, okay then. I, uh, I’ll see you later, okay? Come back before too long.” He muttered, almost sounding embarrassed.

Leafy smiled at him. “Okay. I will. I’ll see you soon.” 

Coiny looked like he was about to open his mouth to say something, but he snapped it shut. Instead, he stood up and made his way over to her. He spawned a flower in his palm and gently tucked it into her scarf. Leafy’s smile widened, and she looked down at the flower. It was a little white and pink flower with a lovely smell.

He waved goodbye to her, then walked back over to the tree and sat down. She waved back, then turned and began walking in the direction of the fields.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is officially the longer chapter in the book so far! Horray for that. And I was really excited for this chapter because- Leafy returns! Yippee!


	9. Chapter 9

It was early morning when Needle was woken up by a loud crack of thunder. Her dream washed away like a leaf being washed downstream.

She yawned, rubbing her eyes and looking up into the sky. The sky was a milky white color, like it had been since this horrible weather started. Clouds blanketed the sky, and the rain poured down from the sky in little droplets that soaked the ground.

Needle feared that if they didn’t get to the mountains soon enough, that her village that she called home would soon be flooded.

“Hey, guys-“ Needle began, turning slightly. Then she realized Coiny and Leafy were not there. 

She remembered that Leafy had gone off on her own last night, but Coiny had been here when she had gone to sleep.

Needle stood up, l whipping her head from side to side wildly. She couldn’t see them anywhere. “Coiny?” She called out into the field. Nothing.

Needle felt alone, and honestly, a little frightened. With the animals in the valley being heavily affected by the storm. They could’ve gotten to them. 

She began to feel herself panic. Those two could be anywhere. And, for the first time on this journey, she was alone.

Needle walked back over to the tree and dropped down to the ground, curling herself into a ball. 

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She was soaked, and the rain pouring down from the milky gray sky wasn’t helping. If only this tree had leaves, she wouldn’t be soaking wet.

She was uncomfortable. This was terrible. She just wanted to finish this stupid journey and get back to the safety of the village. Where her friends and family were. 

Curled up in an uncomfortable ball, she fell asleep, thinking of home

**  
Needle woke up to voices. She didn’t open her eyes, instead she laid there, listening to them.

“...she’s asleep.” She recognized Leafy’s voice.

“Well, wake her up.” Coiny.

“But she-“ Leafy protested. 

“Wake her up.” Coiny grumbled. She heard a rustling noise. “We have to keep going. We’re almost there.”

There was a moment’s silence. Then Leafy sighed. “Fine.” 

Leafy gently shook her. “Come on.”

Needle opened her eyes, grumbling. “I’m up.”

Leafy’s eyes brightened. “Great! Coiny really wanted to get going.” She said as she helped Needle up.

“I heard him.” She said. Coiny was standing a few feet away. His back was to them, and he was staring at the mountains in the distance. He turned his head, and made his way towards the pair.

“Well. You’re finally awake. That means we can get going. I predict we’ll get there by at least midnight.”

Needle groaned. “I woke up earlier, but you guys weren’t there. So I went back to sleep,” then she paused, looking up at the two of them. “Where were you two?”

Coiny chucked awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. “I went after Leafy. We spent the night together.”

Leafy nodded. “We weren’t that far,” she mumbled, clearly a little embarrassed. “We were just a little ways down the field. Coiny caught up to me.”

Needle looked at the both of them. “Whatever. C’mon.” She said, shoving past the both of them.

“Hey! Wait up!” Leafy called, grabbing Coiny’s hand and going after her friend.

**

They had been walking for hours now, and had stopped on the side of the river, the black water licked at the soaking wet grass and the muddy riverbank was completely submerged.

Leafy had taken off her backpack, and crouched down beside it, scavenging around in it. Needle stood over her, while Coiny was sitting on a large stone beside the river, staring into the murky water.

Leafy took out some sandwiches. She handed two to Needle. “Can you bring one to him, please?” She asked, gesturing towards Coiny.

Needle sighed. “Yeah, sure. I guess.”

Needle walked over to him. He didn’t look at her. “Here,” she said, holding the sandwich out to him. “Leafy wanted me to give this to you.”

Coiny finally looked at her when she spoke. “Thank you,” he mumbled, taking the sandwich and unwrapping the plastic.

“Uh, you’re welcome. I guess.” Needle said awkwardly, she turned to walk away, when Coiny stopped her.

“Wait- eat with me.” He was holding his hand out.

Needle looked at him in surprise. “Huh? Are you sure?” 

Coiny nodded. “Yes. I’m sure.” 

Hesitantly, Needle took a few steps forward and sat down on the ground next to the stone. 

They sat in silence. Coiny finished his sandwich. Needle ate more slowly, eyeing him. She wondered why he had wanted her to eat with him, but his face gave nothing away. He hadn’t looked at her once since she had sat down; he continued to stare at his reflection in the swirling black water.

Needle pushed the thoughts away, instead focusing on finishing her sandwich, which was getting pretty soggy by now- but she ate it anyways. This was one of the only meals she would be eating for the next few hours.

As she was finishing up her sandwich, Coiny spoke. “Needle.” 

She swallowed the last bit of her sandwich and looked up at him.”What?” 

His eyes were still locked on the river below him as he spoke. “I know you don’t like me, you’ve proved that time and time again on this journey.”

Needle sighed, scooting over to the stone so that she could lean up against it. “Well, yeah, but I’ve grown to like you more and more as this journey has advanced,” she paused to get situated. “But Leafy clearly likes you a lot, so I’ve mostly just put up with you for her sake.”

Coiny finally looked at her. “I know. I’m not stupid, Needle.” He muttered something under his breath which she couldn’t quite hear. “You fear my powers.”

Needle nodded. “Well, yes, they’re clearly out of control.”

“You’re not the first person to say that,” Coiny muttered, gritting his teeth. “And you won’t be the last. I know they’re out of control, and I’m trying to learn how to control them. It’s difficult, okay?”

“I know you’re trying,” Needle told him in the gentlest voice she could. “But your powers are a little… terrifying.” 

Coiny scoffed. “I know, I know. Again, not the first time.” Then, in a lighter tone, he added, “But I just want you to not fear me. Leafy doesn't.”

Needle looked over at her friend, who was sitting a little ways away. She was curled in a ball, her eyes were fixed on the ground in front of her. She was clearly thinking. Then Needle looked back at Coiny, who was staring down at her with a frown. “Well, yeah,” Needle said after the awkward silence. “She thinks you’re super cool. She’s fascinated by your powers.”

Coiny’s frown turned into a soft smile. “I know. She tells me how cool she thinks I am all the time. Last night she kept making me spawn flowers.”

Needle laughed. “Sounds like her,” then she stopped laughing abruptly. “But that doesn’t change the fact that your powers are dangerous. I’m afraid one of us could get hurt.”

Coiny seemed to take offense to this. “If I hurt you, it won’t be on purpose.” 

“I know that… you don’t seem like a violent type. I know you wouldn’t hurt us, but you’ve proven time and time again that your powers are out of control. I’m just worried that…”

Coiny cut her off. “You’re worried that my powers will go haywire and one of you will get hurt.”

Needle nodded guilty. “Yes. But you clearly want to help us.”

Coiny looked in the distance, where the sun was beginning to set, casting an array of different colors across the valley. “I do.”

“If Leafy trusts you, then I guess I do too.” Needle said, looking up at him with a smile. Coiny almost looked surprised, his mouth slightly agape.

“Thank you.” He said, letting emotion spill into his voice. 

Needle gave him a nod, sitting up a bit so that she could pat him on the shoulder. “Of course.”

“Hey, guys!” Leafy called. She was standing up now, and her backpack and on. She ran over to them. “We should get going, the sun is setting.”

Coiny nodded, eyeing Needle. “Yes, let’s keep going.”

**

The trio had been walking for hours, and they had finally made it to the base of the mountains, standing big and tall against the raven black sky, blanketed with stars that looked like little diamonds from here.

Coiny turned to Needle and Leafy. “Here we are. We’re so close to saving the valley.”

Leafy smiled. “We couldn’t have done it if you hadn’t brought us here.”

Coiny smiled back at her. “Well, I knew exactly where it was. I’ve been here before, long ago. The weather crystals are a sight to see.” 

Needle stretched. “We should rest for the night, and then start trekking up the mountain tomorrow.”

Coiny and Leafy gave her a nod. “Sounds like a plan.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The journey continues, and they reach their destination. But of course, something goes wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if I’m not wrong, the day I’m publishing this (December 15th) is the one year anniversary of the first chapter of TWFA! Happy birthday, TWFA!!
> 
> Also I had an assignment for my creative writing class where we could free write and I submitted this! My teacher really liked it! Woo-hoo!

When Leafy woke up, the sun was just rising over the mountains, the warm colors splashing across the sky as if they were paint lazily thrown onto a canvas.

Leafy looked around. Needle was still asleep not too far away from where she was, and at first glance, she couldn’t see Coiny anywhere. Then she heard a rustling noise from above, and, looking up, she saw Coiny jumping down from a nearby tree.

“Did you sleep in that tree last night?” She asked, not bothering to hide the amusement in her voice.

Coiny yawned, stretching. “Yeah. What about it?”

“Nothing,” Leafy said with a shake of her head. “I just think it’s funny.”

Coiny chuckled softly. “Yeah? Well, I used to sleep in trees all the time.”

Before Leafy could respond, Needle butted in. Leafy had been too busy talking to Coiny to notice she had woken up. “Could you guys be quiet? It’s too early for this.”

“Sorry.” Leafy mumbled. From beside her, she heard Coiny mumble something under his breath.

Needle was fully awake now. She stood up from the tree she had been sitting under, stretching. “When are we going?”

Leafy shrugged, and turned to Coiny. It took him a moment to respond, as he seemed lost in thought. “We’ll be leaving soon,” he confirmed. “We probably should eat first, though.”

Leafy nodded, and reached for her backpack, unzipping it. She dug through it for a moment. Then she frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Coiny asked, taking a step towards her.

“I only have two sandwiches left,” she said, pulling said sandwiches out of her backpack. “One of us will have to share.”

“I don’t mind sharing.” Coiny said almost immediately. 

“Okay. Well, I guess we can share a sandwich then. Here, Needle, you can have this one.”

Needle walked over and grabbed the sandwich from Leafy’s hands, looking at Coiny with narrowed eyes before walking away.

Leafy smiled at Coiny, and he smiled back at her, holding his hand out for his half of the sandwich.

She halved the sandwich, handing one half to Coiny. She sat down on the dampened earth, and Coiny sat down next to her. When he sat down, small flowers formed in a circle around him. 

“Isn’t it nice?” Coiny began, taking a bite from his half of the sandwich. “We’re so close. I think we’ll be getting there by at least… sundown? Maybe sooner.”

“It is great. But after this, will we ever see each other again?” Leafy responded, tapping her fingers on the damp soil beside her. This was something she had thought about many times before. It was always a thought that lingered in the back of her mind.

Coiny’s eyes softened. A few flowers sprouted on his face. “I’m not sure.” He admitted, tapping his foot as he took another bite of his sandwich. He quickly chewed and swallowed. “I don’t think that I’ll be able to go back with you. But you could visit me. I’d appreciate the company.”

Leafy nodded. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll do that.” She went quiet for a moment, and the only noise was the pitter patter of the rain hitting the leaves above their heads. Coiny tilted his head up to look at the chaotic sky. “Coiny… I have a question.”

Coiny looked back at her when she spoke, shoving the remains of the sandwich into his mouth. “Yes?” He asked through a mouthful. Leafy cringed as crumbs fell into his lap. 

“You’re the one who told us where to go. You said we’re looking for the Weather Crystals. But how did you know about them? Didn’t you say you’ve been there before?”

Coiny looked surprised by the question- very surprised. He gritted his teeth. “Yes, I have been there. It was a very long time ago. And it was the last time I saw… never mind.”

“Huh? Saw who?” Leafy asked, finishing her sandwich and crumbling up the plastic wrap and shoving it into her pocket.

Coiny shook his head dismissively, standing up. “Forget it. Let’s go see if Needle is ready to go.” 

Together, they walked over to where Needle was sitting up against a tree a little ways away. Coiny was quiet; clearly lost in thought. There were more flowers sprouting all over his body. 

Needle looked up when they approached her. “I’m guessing you two are ready?” 

Leafy and Coiny nodded, Coiny was fidgety, shifting from one foot to the other.

“Okay. Let’s get going, then.” Needle said, suddenly sounding determined. She looked up at the mountains that loomed over them, outlined by the sunrise, casting an array of colors over the valley.

She looked over her shoulder at her companions. Leafy walked over to stand beside her, and Coiny followed more slowly, dragging his feet through the mud. 

And the trio set off up the mountain.

***

The midday sun beat down hard on the trios backs. They had been walking for hours now with little to no breaks. Despite the heat, a cool breeze drifted through their hair, as if it were trying to dry off their rain soaked hair.

Coiny let out a long, drawn out sigh. “I think we should stop for a moment,” He said. He stopped, his feet sinking into the mud below him. “We’re all tired. We need our energy if we’re going to get there at all.”

Needle and Leafy, who had been walking side by side the entire way, turned around. They glanced at each other. “I guess you’re right.” Needle admitted. “We’re tired and hungry. We should stop for a bit.”

Leafy sighed. “Okay.”

Coiny took a long stretch. “Great. I think I saw a little tree back there. Maybe we could stop and rest there for a bit.”

Coiny led the way as they walked back the way they came. Coiny had a newfound energy, while moments before he had seemed out of it; gloomy and clearly lost in thought. 

After only a few minutes of walking, they reached the tree Coiny had been talking about. It was tall; its branches long and skinny, reaching up towards the sky. It casted cool shadows along the area around it, and it’s branches swayed in the soft breeze.

Today had been calmer than the previous day, the rain wasn’t beating down as harshly as it had been only the day before. For the first time in a while, the sun was fully visible; not covered by clouds. It was a nice change, feeling the warm sun beating down on the land below after so many gloomy and wet days.

They settled underneath the tree. Coiny laid down on the damp soil and closed his eyes while Leafy and Needle sat down against the tree.

“So,” Needle began, catching Leafy’s attention. “We’re almost there.”

Leafy smiled softly, pulling her legs to her chest. “Yeah! Coiny says we’ll probably get there by sundown.” She replied, looking over to where Coiny was curled up in a ball a few feet away from them, fast asleep.

“Good.” Needle said, stretching her jaws open into a wide yawn. “I am SO ready to get home. This whole journey has been crazy.” 

“It has been, hasn’t it?” Leafy said, chuckling. 

“Yeah. I can’t wait to get home.” Needle agreed, putting her hands behind her head and crossing her legs.”

“Me too, but…” Leafy began, the words dying in her throat. Needle looked at her, raising an eyebrow. 

“But what?” Needle urged, sitting up a bit.

“I’m afraid I won’t see Coiny again after the journey is over.” Leafy admitted. 

Needle snorted. “You know, if we had had this conversation earlier, I would’ve said I didn’t like him, but he’s grown on me. I’ve started to see him more as a friend.”

“Well I’ve clearly missed something,” Leafy said in a joking tone. “I thought you still hated him.”

“Well, I used to, but not anymore.” Needle said, looking over at his sleeping figure. He was snoring softly in the shade of the tree. 

“Well, I’m glad you don’t hate him anymore.” Leafy said with a smile. “That means a lot to me.”

“Yeah, Yeah..” Needle muttered. “I spent a lot of time with him after you got lost. I, uh.. I kinda started to see him in a new light.”

“I told you!” Leafy said in an amused, teasing tone. “He’s great once you get to know him.”

“Yeah,” Needle said, amused. “You sure showed me.”

Leafy chuckled, though she didn’t respond. Instead, she looked off into the distance. Needle fell silent. 

A comfortable silence fell over them. They watched as birds flew by and as clouds shuffled across the sky. The sun slid across the sky, and the shimmering blue of midday transitioned into an array of oranges, pinks and yellows. 

“We should wake Coiny up. We have to get going soon.” Needle said, breaking the peaceful silence that had unfolded around them. She sat up a bit, looking over at Leafy; who had closed her eyes, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head resting on them.

Leafy looked up at her, blinking up at her and yawning. “Right.” She mumbled.

The both of them stood up, stretching and yawning, and made their way over to where Coiny was sleeping. Leafy crouched down beside him, shaking him gently. “Coiny. Come on. We’ve gotta get going.” 

He stirred, rolling over and slowly blinking his eyes up at her. He looked at Leafy, then he looked at Needle. He sat up, yawning, and stood up. “Okay. Let’s go then.” He mumbled, stretching. 

***

As the sun began to go down, they made it to the entrance of a cave, the entrance loomed over them, the only thing that could be seen inside was darkness.

“Here we are,” Coiny said, turning to face Needle and Leafy. “Stay close. Let’s go.”

They entered the cave slowly, the darkness swallowing them as they entered. Coiny led the way slowly, and Leafy and Needle followed closely behind, not wanting to get lost in the total darkness.

As they walked farther into the darkness, the walls got closer together, and they soon had to walk single file. The tunnels twisted and turned. Soon it was hard to tell how far underground they were. 

Soon, there was light ahead. Leafy winced, her eyes having gotten so used to the darkness that the sudden light hurt her eyes. She heard Coiny and Needle groan ahead of her.

They stumbled into a cave. There was a hole in the ceiling of the cave where gentle moonlight filtered in. In the middle of the cave, a cluster of shining crystals composed of multiple different colors that lit up the cave was present. There was a very noticeable crack along the side of the glittering clump of crystals.

There were two more tunnel entrances on the opposite side of the cave from the one they had come through.

“There they are. The Weather Crystals.” Coiny said in a hushed voice.

Needle and Leafy’s mouths gaped in awe at the beauty of the crystals.

But suddenly, out of the darkness, a roar cut through the air. And out of the darkness of one of the tunnels, 6 arms soared through the air and grabbed onto Coiny. He screamed, squirming around in the grip of the monster. A few vines wrapped around the monster’s arms, but they were snapped easily by a single movement of the monster. Coiny was swept into the darkness, his scream echoing off the walls of the cave. 

“Coiny!” Leafy and Needle screamed after him as he disappeared into the darkness.

And he was gone.


End file.
